EUGENE, Ore. — Thirteen-hundred federal employees in Oregon, furloughed during the government shutdown, will not have to pay back state unemployment benefits.

The Oregon Department of Labor says there are 27,000 federal employees in the state of Oregon. Forty-four hundred filed for unemployment, but only 1,300 received one week of benefits, costing the state $680,000.

There’s a rule that’s been in place for years that says anyone who doesn’t have a return date for their job can apply for benefits and won’t have to pay back any of that money.

“It’s our intention to take a hard look at this rule work with the federal U.S. Department of Labor and change the rule in Oregon so that if there’s a next time that Congress does this, then perhaps federal workers would indeed be required to pay those benefits back,” said Tom Fuller, Oregon Employment Department Spokesman.

Fuller says the federal government will have to pay the state’s trust fund back dollar for dollar for the furloughed worker benefits.